


Come Back to Me

by AllyUnabridged



Series: UsaMamo Week 2020 [3]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Ficlet, Romance, star locket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyUnabridged/pseuds/AllyUnabridged
Summary: Usagi takes a little time to come to terms with Mamoru's acceptance to Harvard, aided by one special locket.
Relationships: Chiba Mamoru/Tsukino Usagi
Series: UsaMamo Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875919
Kudos: 7





	Come Back to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Here's my entry for UsaMamo Week 2020 Day #3, appropriately themed around Usagi and Mamoru as just themselves. Another ficlet, I was trying for sweet but ended up with a bit of hurt/comfort, too? I hope you like it.

The late afternoon sun gilded pink, violet, and blue flowers with an edge of gold and made the droplets of water flying through the air sparkle. Small family groups and several pairs of students leisurely walked by, covering the background city traffic noise with the sound of giggles and chatter that would usually bring a smile to her face. Yet Usagi didn’t notice any of it. None of the small joys of life she usually reveled in could touch her heart. 

Part of her thought she shouldn’t be so sad. After all, this was an amazing opportunity for Mamoru. It wasn’t just everyone who got to study at Harvard, one of the best universities in the United States of America. And if she kept thinking that, maybe she’d believe it. Maybe she’d find a way to really be happy for him instead of pretending. 

With a sad little sigh, she settled back on the bench in front of the fountain and wondered if they’d meet there again before he left, or if he would be too busy shutting up his apartment and taking care of the many random things she was sure came with leaving the country. Their last date had just been three days ago. Then she’d gone over to his place two days ago. That’s when she’d found out.

It wasn’t like he was trying to hide it from her. He had told her right away, showed her the letter and everything. One of his professors put him in for the opportunity without his knowledge. First year college students hardly ever were selected. It was a great honor, of course. 

As the words had rolled off his tongue, Usagi could see how proud he was. She was proud of him, too. She’d always known her Mamo-chan was so incredibly smart, so amazingly dedicated to the idea of being a doctor and helping others. It was one of the many things she admired about him. And she loved that his professors saw that, too.

But why, oh why, hadn’t they waited just a few years? When she’d be done with high school and could maybe, possibly, go with him? The thought of staying here in Japan without the love of her very existence weighed on her heart like little else did. 

The fountain across from her shot up in one of its usual timed displays, drawing her disinterested attention. But the sound of the droplets hitting the water was almost musical, and they reminded her of something. It was an item she hadn’t used in a very long time, one that brought her peace and happiness so she always kept it in her subspace pocket, even if she rarely pulled it out these days when her life was going so much better.

Usagi glanced around and then pulled out a star-shaped locket, fingers wrapped in the links of the chain it was attached to. She caught the gently swinging piece of jewelry, as big as her palm, and held it in front of her. Its smooth glass face glinted in the sunlight while underneath the current phase of the moon smiled up at her, a thin crescent. She felt her lips tilt in response even as she brushed the fingers of her other hand over it, sending a small pulse of her power into it just the way she now remembered how to.

The haunting melody of her previous life’s favorite lullaby tinkled softly through the air, soothing the ragged edges of her emotional turmoil. She remembered, vaguely, giving this to Endymion in that lifetime. More vividly, she recalled using this very locket to bring Mamoru back to her while he was under the spell of Queen Beryl. Somehow, it had stayed with her even after that fight, when she was sure she’d lost it, appearing on her nightstand not long after.

Once, she tried to give it back to Mamoru. But he just smiled and shook his head, curling her fingers around it as she held it out, and told her that he would never leave her again, so there was no need. Somehow, he knew how much it soothed her; in that moment, she’d been too weak to give it up.

But perhaps it was time again. He’d been wrong. He had to leave, needed to go away to finish his education. And although she was sure that nothing would be as dangerous as the situation Endymion and Serenity had found themselves in long ago, still she wanted him to take it with her. Maybe hearing its song would help with the loneliness he was sure to feel, all by himself in a foreign country.

The hand dropping on her shoulder startled Usagi, although she knew right away who it belonged to. She spun around in her seat and gave the biggest grin she could manage. 

“Mamo-chan!” she cried, reaching up to cover his hand with her empty one.

“What do you have there, Usako?” he asked, coming around to sit next to her on the bench. 

She blushed. “I was just thinking. In our past life, Serenity gave this locket to Endymion so that he would find her in his time of need. And I know that everything is peaceful now, but I think you should take it with you to America. I hope it will help you remember me.”

He smiled down at her, the small, kind quirk of his lips that she had come to adore so much, the look he only ever gave her. His bright blue eyes crinkled a little as he took the locket from her and held it up, brushing his fingers over it to stop the music.

“Are you sure, Usako? I know that you’ve become pretty attached to it,” he murmured, turning it over and over in his hand.

Usagi shrugged a little. “It will make me feel better, knowing that you have it. And who knows, maybe it still works and you’ll be able to find your way back to me if something does go really wrong!” she said brightly.

With a laugh, Mamoru slid the locket into his own subspace pocket. “Very well. Now, have you eaten yet?” 

She blushed again when her stomach growled at the mere thought of food. She hadn’t actually been in the mood for dinner and so had left, promising her mother that she’d find something to eat while out with her friends. Then she’d come here to mope. But now that he was here, making her feel so much better with his presence, her usual hunger had come back full force.

“Well, I guess I could eat something,” she muttered, glaring at him a little when he laughed. “Mamo-chan! It’s not funny! I could be starving to death, for all you know!”

“The entire world would have to be out of food for you to starve to death. You’d always find something to eat!” he teased her, standing back up and holding out his hand. “Why don’t we go get some tempura at that shop you like?” 

Usagi bounced up and took his hand. “Oh, yes! Can we get the shrimp? I want the shrimp today!” She babbled on as they walked away from the park, arms twined together and his imminent departure temporarily forgotten.


End file.
